Dias Melhores

You can petition for the fiancee visa anytime. However, when it comes time for the interview, I would imagine your Chilean fiancee will need to interview at the American Consulate in Chile.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I do think it's on the whole just rather...well, crappy is the best word I can think of...to give us less than three weeks notice (really, only about a week and a half of business days given the two back-to-back holidays). I've tried emailing, and have gotten responses that seem to be written by a computer program. They are insultingly deficient in both information and clarity. I also find it troubling that we must tread carefully with the consulate or risk being tossed to the bottom of the pile. As far as I was aware, agents of the State Department shouldn't be acting like functionaries in a fascist regime. Nor should we really be comfortable with accepting this type of behavior from them.

Sigh.

Has anyone heard of other people being contacted about changing the appointment in Rio?

@#$@ happens sometimes. I don't disagree with your comments, but the bright side of this is that you have an interview date and it's very soon...

Once again, thank you for your comments and suggestions. And once again, I am not looking for legal advices here on this forum. And I had been in contact with immigration lawyers. My/my wife's situation was purely due to legitmimate family medical emergecy. The decision had to be made within 12 hours. I tried to contact USCIS by phone by website without results. And I did not know anything about InfoPass until I started posting here.

So far I have contacted 5 immigration law offices. 3 told me for certain that it is ok to use AP to return. 2 told me that I have good reason to try and they think there will not be a problem at all.

I have been posting here trying to see if somebody has gone through the same situation and is willing to share the experiences. And I did find one, from another site. Here is the posting:

" Posted by lyndaomar (71) 21 Aug 2008

to yohaho:

My husband left usa for family emergency He was Physically in USA and applied You can Leave as long as you apply Ask any IO and as long as you are in Country and applied you can leave your just not guranteed to received AP. My husband left 2 days afetr i applied I received AP 2 months after and I traveled to him and personally brought him his AP,,He came back in with no problems,,ASK a IO about what I just said and our case is still processing just fine. "

And their I-485 was approved in Sept 09.

This is for those who are interested in sharing experience like I am.

Go for it and good luck.

Thank you for your posting. You hit right on it. That is exactly the concern I have.

The AP Issue date is after the date when my wife left US. Was your "recollection" based on your experience or was it from USCIS regulations posted/written somewhere?

I am trying to find out if what you stated is true and if it is being enforced somehow. If it is being enforced strictly at port-of-entry, then I need to do something more. Otherwise, I may just take a chance. The worst is that my wife cannot enter because of this 'date discrepancy' on AP and her passport once arrived. I am trying to access how much risk there is by using this AP.

Good luck with your research, and I hope your wife returns safely without any harrassment. Please update us on your progress!

What is an 'Infopass' and how to make an appointment for it?

http://infopass.uscis.gov/

Be ready when you go. The last time my wife and I went to an Infopass appointment, we were greeted by USCIS baffoons.

My recollection is that it depends on the date the AP was issued, if it is dated before she left but received after she left she can use it.

She may well be able to get back in with it.

AoS interview, well I guess that depends on whether they notice.

I agree with Boiler.

I say just Fed ex it to her and have her use it when she enters. It's all legitimate so what's the problem?

another thing to consider is the time frame. It takes a good part of the day to complete the interview. If you are going to be there, hopefully your flight leaves very late on the 6th. The consulate is not close to the Rio airport, so you may end up missing your return flight if it's too early. Make sure you get to the consulate at least one hour before they open! There will be a line of visas for tourism and another line for K1. Ask the security person where your line is!

Sorry to hear about the trouble. I am sure they have their reasons for changing the date (staffing shortages, overbooked, etc.). You should try to call them for a reschedule considering your situation. When my wife and I went to Rio for the interview, we stayed longer in anticipation of getting the visa delivered to our hotel room (and for any other potential delays). There probably are other visa interviews that could wait an extra day, so maybe you can convince someone to keep your appointment on the 6th. Be careful when you call; remember they are the ones who give the visa and if you get too pushy with them they may bump you out a month later!!!

That's a bummer you can't stay a little while in Rio... The weather is much better this time of year than in NY

Good Luck

Congratulations!!!

Thank you for the responses. Unfortunately Mexico has a new policy for people who are transiting through if they stop in more than one airport within Mexico, they must have a visa. As for the US visa, we will just provide all the evidence of ties to Brasil that we can and hope for the best. My fiancee's family lives a fairly simple life and have not had any dealings with immigration type things except for when he got his K1 visa. So they are understandably nervous, but I think everything will be fine. Thanks again!

Can't they come directly to the U.S.? My fiance is flying from Sao Paulo to Miami.

Yes, we had originally planned to do that, but found that the tickets were so much cheaper through Mexico. Also they do not speak any English, so changing planes in the US would have been difficult. THis way they can come directly to SFO from Mexico and not need to transit through any other US cities. Also, we did not find out about the visa problem until we had purchased the tickets. Brasilians did not previously need a visa to go to Mexico.

Brasilians changing planes in Mexico can be a pain. I know that Brasilians understand spanish, but the Mexican Immigrations officer that my wife dealt with a year ago did not understand nor speak Portuguese. She got detained in the "no visa" transit lounge and was miserable. At the time she only had AP (without a visa), which is worthless in Mexico. It is definitely a great decision to get the visa for Mexico.

Good luck.

Hello,

Do I need to translate a Brazilian address on my form I-129F?

E.g., should I translate "Rua Sao Paulo 2100" to "Sao Paulo Street 2100?"

"Avenida do Contorno" to "Contorno Avenue?"

The consulate/embassy will use the address to send documents to my fiance, correct? Just don't want to mess this up...

Also, it's normal in Brazil for the street number to be placed after the street name. Should I leave it like that, or switch the order to number first as in the U.S.?

Thanks in advance.

I would spell it the way it is in Brazil. That's like telling someone in Brazil that you live on "Rua Paulo" when you live on Paul Street. Anything mailed or verified in the USA would not know what "Rua Paulo" means.

We had our K-1 interview on July 16, approved with flying colors and the Brazilian Consulate forwarded it to TNT Express Mail on July 17. It is now the 7th of August and we still have not received his passport in the mail. He lives in Salvador, Bahia.

Is it just me or is it taking a little too long. Should I be worried?

BTW my fiance has conveniently misplaced his TNT tracking number. Go figure....

We used TNT after my wife's K1 was approved and it was delivered the next day. The only difference is that yours is going from Rio to Bahia.... We were staying locally in Rio.

I wish I had more info for you, but I recall TNT being the only game in town. What a shame the tracking is missing ... I hope it turns up soon

Wow!!!

Parabens pra voce!!!

I am stunned that USCIS approved you so quickly without any expedite reason (military or other). I almost think that they made a mistake. It's not uncommon to see USCIS make mistakes, but usually their mistakes work against you (and cost more time)! This is truly a gift from the USCIS Gods!!! Enjoy!

If you have the tracking number, go to the DHL website and track it. It may have left Miami just today, the first workday since they received it.

Thanks. I've been checking all day, but still same status as on July 25th. It has arrived in Miami, but has not been processed or updated since. Are they closed all weekend?

How are you so sure yours is stuck in Miami? Is NVC giving out the DHL tracking numbers now? When we went through this process we were not given the exact tracking information; we had to use an xls formula with some guesswork...

The USC is responsible for his actions. Take him to the cleaners.

1. File police report for missing persons

2. Hire an attorney for the child support

2. Let USCIS know what is going on as soon as possible

3. Contact Phillipines Embassy

If the USC filed a K-1, did he NOT file an "Affidavit of Support"? If he did, he is financially responsible for her expenses while she is in th US.

Read #4 and #5 of the form:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-134.pdf

Doing this should prevent the dead-beat from trying to bring another foreign fiancee in the future!

Seeing as it is taking about 5-6 months for processing of K! visa. Can one keep flying in and out of the US in the meantime? (Money being no object). Or should one stay put in Australia until paperwork is approved.

G'day, Aussie. You will be fine visiting the US. Just bring the immigrations a slab of VB's and you will be in without any problem.

Cheers

Matt

Hello,

I received the NOA 1 a few weeks ago. How do I check the staus ?

thank you

https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/caseStatusSearc...68G3VY7-H_PSijs

after sending in the packet i realized that my fiancee's G325 had some blanks on it (instead of writing none)

is there anybody else here who's been in similar situation i wanted to know if this is a guaranteed RFE or do we still have a chance

You would think they would use common sense and let it go, but remember that you are in USCIS' world and anything is possible...

Yes, remember it is USCIS. There is no way to tell you for sure. Wait and see. DO NOT attempt to send another one without an RFE it will be sucked into the black hole!

Ha ha ha... We all know too well how USCIS can never cease to amaze us...

Yesterday I spoke with my Congressmans office and they had me fill out a form so that they could try to help speed along my I-129f (148 days with no contact from Vermont sercice center). Has anyone else received help from their Congressman?

We tried when I sent my wife's K1, but the USCIS response our Congressman received was that is was still within the normal processing time of the CSC service center.

For your situation, I looked at the current processing timelines for the past six months. Unfortunately, it appears VSC is the slowest (when we did our K1, CSC was the slower):

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/stats.php?history=180

I think you should be hearing something soon.... stay positive!

Our interviewer only allowed my wife to keep her first name and her new married last name, no middle name. She told us that we would only be able to change and add the middle name after/if she became a US citizen.

I thought it was BS, but it did not matter to us much since she got the green card.

There are probably a lot of discussions about this, but here is one that I recall:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...238&hl=dias melhores&st=10

Good luck

after sending in the packet i realized that my fiancee's G325 had some blanks on it (instead of writing none)

is there anybody else here who's been in similar situation i wanted to know if this is a guaranteed RFE or do we still have a chance

You would think they would use common sense and let it go, but remember that you are in USCIS' world and anything is possible...

I am thinking about going to Mexico and I found out that being a permanent resident I will not need a visa. I did not receive the green card yet and I just have the extension letter. I am afraid about the immigration guards in Mexico not being familiar with this paper. Has anybody here experienced something like that?

Any advice will be appreciate.

Thanks, Jana.

I know your situation is different, but I want you to know that my wife went through hell traveling through Mexico:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...l=dias+melhores

Double and triple check with the Mexican Consulate to be sure that Brazilians with Green Cards won't be harassed...

Good Luck

Interesting article. hehehe, the references to immigration are very vague but it appears she started to work before she got permission (VBG). Thanks for posting this.

I agree. She left out the immigration details. Also, a little stunned to read on page 5, "Between the agency charges, visa fees, travel and other expenses, he ended up spending about $20,000" $20k??? Wow, the agency and plane tix must have been a fortune....

hello

my fiance has entered the United States on the k1 visa

we just received his Social Security card and are getting married july 30th.

we are just wondering how to go about getting a drivers license does he have to take a road test? or a written test ?

thanks

http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/license.htm#identification

Drivers From Other Nations

A valid driver license from another country is also valid in NYS. You do not need to apply for a NYS driver license unless you become a resident of NYS.

According to NYS law, a resident of another country can get a NYS driver license. The DMV does not recommend this because:

NYS recognizes your foreign driver license if you remain a resident of the nation that issued the license. You do not need to have a NYS driver license to drive in NYS unless you become a resident of NYS.

If you have a driver license from any nation except Canada, you must pass a written test, complete a 5-hour pre-licensing course and pass a road test to qualify for a NYS driver license. See "New Drivers - How to Apply".

You must show a Social Security Card. If you are not eligible for a Social Security Card, you must provide a letter or form SSA-L676 from the US Social Security Administration (SSA) that states that you are not eligible. The SSA Letter or form must have been issued no more than 30 days before the date of your application. You must also show the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) documents that the SSA used to determine that you are not eligible for a Social Security Card. The USCIS was formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Read the specific requirements on the identification requirements page.

When you receive your NYS driver license, you must surrender your foreign driver license to the DMV road test examiner. The local DMV office keeps your foreign driver license, and then destroys the license after 60 days. If you plan to return to your home country and use your foreign driver license, ask the road test examiner how to make sure that your foreign driver license is not destroyed. If you need to get your foreign driver license, go to the local DMV office where you applied for your NYS driver license.